Creating a national framework for student

partnership in university decision-making and

governance

A toolkit for embedding student partnership in your

institution

Delivered by Sally Varnham as part of her National Senior Teaching Fellowship

Contents

1. Student partnership in University decision making 1

1.1 Getting started 2

1.2 What do we mean by student engagement and student partnership? 2

2. Building partnership 5

2.1 Example 1 5

2.2 Example 2 7

2.3 What’s in it for the institution? 9

2.4 Regulatory considerations support student partnership 10

2.5 What’s in it for the students? 10

2.6 The need for flexibility 11

3. Reviewing student engagement 12

3.1 Suggested review tools 13

4. Creating a student partnership agreement 14

4.1 sparqs documents 14

4.2 An example of the creation of an institutional Student Partnership

Agreement shared at the Fellowship Symposium 15

5. Student academic representation 16

5.1 Two examples of student academic representative processes

shared at the Fellowship symposium 17

5.1.1 Example 1 17

5.1.2 Example 2 19

6. Training and support 20

6.1 Example of a pilot program hosted at UTS Faculty of Law 21

6.2 Training tools 22

6.2.1 Slides 23

6.2.2 Questions 31

6.2.3 Handbook 33

7. Student leadership training 39

8. Communication with students 41

9. Resources 42

10. Appendix A 44

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1. Student partnership in university decision making

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1.1 Getting started Institutions in Australia are doing good things with respect to partnering with their students

in decision making processes. Many are working on the additional challenges in embedding

student partnership associated with multiple campuses and highly diverse student cohorts

which characterise our sector. While there are many successful initiatives, we have often

seen a lack of coherency in practices within institutions. An outcome of the Fellowship’s

sector-wide collaborative exercise has been the development of a set of Principles and a

Framework to underpin effective and authentic student partnership and to assist coherent

approaches. This is known as STEPUP for quality enhancement and is set out below and in

longer form on our webpage.

This toolkit aims to work alongside those Principles and provide ideas, hints and resources

that may be of assistance in the journey to embed student partnership in an institution. In

many places it refers to the good work being done by organisations such as sparqs (student

partnership in quality Scotland) that are further along the road to student partnership. They

have developed some excellent and useful tools. Where possible we draw on Australian

examples, some of which have been developed using tools from places like sparqs. The

Australian examples we draw on were featured during the Initiative Sharing session at the

final symposium for Sally Varnham’s National Senior Teaching Fellowship on 1 September

2017.

1.2 What do we mean by student engagement and student

partnership? The elements of student engagement are identified by the Student Engagement Framework

for Scotland as:

1. students feeling part of a supportive institution

2. students engaging in their own learning

3. students working with their institution in shaping the direction of learning

4. formal mechanisms for quality and governance

5. influencing the student experience at national level.

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That document goes on to define the features of effective student engagement as:

1. A culture of engagement

2. Students as partners

3. Responding to diversity

4. Valuing the student contribution

5. Focus on enhancement and change

6. Appropriate resources and support

A good tool for explaining what authentic engagement looks like is Arnstein’s ladder.

Arnstein S (1969) “A ladder of citizen participation” JAIP 35(4), 216-224

Partnership is not about relinquishing control but rather it is about empowering those

affected by decisions to actively participate in making them. The ladder places consultation

low on the scale of participation. Many questions may relate to the authenticity of

consultation for example, who is consulted, when are they consulted, how are they briefed

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and what is done with their input? For this reason, affected parties, such as students, may

see consultation as tokenistic and not worth their time in becoming involved.

In Arnstein’s view true participation leading to partnership is when affected parties are

brought in at the very beginning of the process, or even are asked for their views when

ideas for change or innovation are being considered.

True partnership requires investment in ensuring that diverse student voice is captured and

is listened to. Student voice needs to be part of formulating the brief rather than

responding to what the institution has decided.

A culture of partnership requires the institution to work together with students where

possible on matters from course content and delivery through to strategy, and the vast

array of operations which affect the institutional community.

The following diagram illustrates the principles underpinning effective student partnership

as identified during Sally Varnham’s National Senior Teaching Fellowship. Further

information regarding these principles can be accessed online.

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The evolving stages in an institution’s relationship with its students may be seen as this:

1. Building partnership For an institution to build partnerships with its students a culture shift among its members

may be required. Developing true student partnership requires an investment of time - to

build trust and common understanding and to address concerns that members may have

around what student partnership means in practice.

The following are examples of initiatives shared by institutions at the Fellowship

Symposium.

2.1 Example 1

The University of South Australia outlined processes they are following towards developing

student partnership.

Initiative Student Engagement Framework

Institution University of South Australia

Contact Laura- Anne Bull - PVC: Student Engagement & Equity: Laura-Anne.Bull@unisa.edu.au

Students as consumers:

Students are paying for their

education, so institutions ask

them for feedback and consult

with them to some extent.

Leadership roles are limited

and constrained.

Students as passive recipients

of education: The institution

knows what is best for

students and their education

Students as partners in learning:

Students are recognised as expert

learners and provided with

opportunities to shape their

education.

Student activism: Students

develop a voice and

institutions do not always like

what they have to say

Students as full partners in

institutional life: Participating

in all levels of decision making

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The University of South Australia developed a Student Engagement Framework in 2016,

following a period of extensive consultation with UniSA staff, students, alumni and industry

partners. The purpose of the Framework is to provide an enhanced student experience and

increased student engagement across the University through working in partnership with

our students.

As an output from this work we established a team of students, Student Project Support

Officers, to work on a range of projects in collaboration with staff in the delivery of an

enhanced student experience. These students were recruited through an expression of

interest process and eight students were appointed to the roles on a casual employment

basis.

An example of one of the projects this group of students are working on is the development

of a website that will communicate the key elements of the diverse UniSA student experience

and articulate how students can make most out of their experience at the University. The

new website will:

• align with what is important to students and the outcomes they wish to seek

• be developed by students, for students, with a strong student voice

• include current and past students providing their insights on:

o what students can expect from their experience at UniSA

o experiences that have contributed to their success at UniSA

• link to existing websites and resources

• contain video, testimonials and ‘tips from current students’

The Website will bring this information together to establish a one-stop shop with the aim of

increasing students’ awareness and benefits of these initiatives. The content of the website

will be based on student’s real-time experience, and will be developed by students, for

students.

Not only will these Student Project Support Officers use their skills and experience to develop

a useful resource for current and future students, but it will also enable them to:

• gain skills and experience in a dynamic and professional work environment

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• enjoy employment that is professionally and financially rewarding

• have the opportunity to share their “student perspective” insights

• build networks across the University and

• further enrich their experience while enhancing their job readiness. This has been an

exciting initiative at UniSA and at the Symposium you will hear from one of our

Student Project Support Officers about their experience of working in collaboration

with the University.

2.2 Example 2

Queensland University of Technology have also been developing student partnership.

Initiative Embedding students as partners

Institution Queensland University of Technology

Contact Natasha Shaw Students as Partners Coordinator: natasha.shaw@qut.edu.au

Walking the talk - A whole of Institution approach to Students as Partners through

partnership

Embedding Students as Partners (SaP) across an institution has itself been a partnership

between staff and students. The aim of this session is to share with others some of the

enabling strategies that we have put in place and how SaP have evolved and matured within

our Institution.

In mid-2015, the central Learning and Teaching Unit at QUT first started to seriously consider

SaP as a whole-institution strategy. We prototyped and tested the approach across faculties

with pilot projects where staff and students worked together to re-imagine curriculum.

These pilots provided an early opportunity for us to identify any concerns or obstacles and

garner some understanding of what SaP might look like within different disciplinary

contexts. It was recognised very early on that no single strategy would suffice to embed SaP

within university culture. It required a multi-pronged approach that was flexible enough to

respond to needs and issues as they emerged. While our goal is to embed SaP across the

institution, we are also keen to find ways to do this that allows and encourages a range of

responses and approaches to SaP that will complement individual discipline’s cultures.

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In early 2016, we formed an interdisciplinary SaP Working Party of staff and students to

guide the implementation of SaP across the Institution. By developing our approach to SaP

at this initial and strategic level meant that we were modelling the way of working that we

were asking others to do. Our first task as a group was to define our goal, clarify our

purpose, and refine our research question to focus our inquiry. Our goal was that SaP would

become “just the way we do things,” and our participatory action research question became:

“What will it take for SaP to be just part of the way we do things?” Next, the group worked

together to define the guiding principles for SaP at QUT. These guiding principles would then

be used as a reflection tool to check that, first, we were progressing according to these

principles and second, that the principles truly did align with the organisational culture and

priorities. The wording of the principles is consciously active and strength based to reflect the

values and vision of QUT.

Our principles are:

• SaP is relevant because it satisfies needs, affirms values, and invites action.

• SaP is inclusive because anyone, anyhow and anywhere, is acknowledged as able.

• SaP is respectful because participants responsibly see, hear, and act on contributions.

The first principle emphasises the importance of integrating SaP into authentic learning

opportunities that build graduate capabilities; the second acknowledges that opportunities

to be involved in SaP need to be visible and accessible to all; and the third principle directly

speaks to SaP as a “way of doing” – a process rather than a product (Healey, Flint, &

Harrington, 2014).

Over the last 2 years, our own understanding of SaP has matured. As a result, our processes

have been continually reviewed and refined. We have all learnt much along the way.

Although we are in the early stages of evaluating impact on staff, students, and practice, we

are seeing benefits emerging for both staff and students, and we have come a long way

towards SaP being just part of the way we do things at QUT.

Think Tank for Academic Governance – A Students as Partners Approach

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Students as Partners is an approach to student engagement that emphasises students and

staff sharing their perspectives, decision making and responsibility for teaching and learning.

QUT has made a commitment to further develop the way we engage with students through

a SaP framework. Through this work it has become evident that an area of partnership with

students that has not been fully investigated is the nexus where governance and deliberative

structures intersect with learning and teaching. The Think Tank-Academic Governance

(TTAG) was formed in early 2017 in response to a need identified by both internal

mechanisms and an external review to improve the way students engage in academic

governance at QUT. The Think Tank members include students in representative roles on

Committees and Boards, other students who are not in formal representative roles, and

professional and Academic staff representing the co-curricular space, faculties and the

Learning and Teaching Unit.

The purpose of the working party is firstly to explore strategies to enable authentic

engagement for student representatives and secondly, to work in partnership with students

as researchers exploring the different models of student engagement in deliberative

structures of learning and teaching to present to the ULTC at the end of the year an

alternative model of engagement for students in academic Governance. Our goal is to

explore strategies that will enable authentic engagement for student representatives and to

work in partnership with students as researchers to explore the different models of student

engagement in deliberative structures of academic governance at QUT and other

universities.

What we have discovered so far is that the obstacles or issues that we face at QUT, in terms

of authentic engagement, are not unique to our situation, but common across many

institutions.

2.3 What’s in it for an institution?

“The implications of perceiving students as partners, rather than consumers are substantial and

deep. The student as partner is an active member of an institution with which s/he shares a strong

allegiance and commitment.”

(2016, Embedding the Principles of Student Engagement, Ireland QQI/USI, IUA, IoTI, HEA)

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Evidence from abroad shows that investing in creating true partnership with students may

boost an institution’s success. Enhancement is the goal – in both institutional quality and

standards and the experience of its students. The reputation of an institution may be

increased through being seen as one that is relevant and connected through being ‘in touch’

with the views of its students.

Student partnership is not just a feel-good exercise but one that makes good sense in a

competitive environment.

See:

sparqs, 2017 – Celebrating Achievement

Flint, Goddard & Russell/TSEP, 2017 – Architects of their experience: the role, value and

impact of student academic representation systems in Higher Education in England

HEA UK, 2015 – Framework for Student Engagement through Partnership

2.4 Regulatory considerations support student partnership

Higher Education Standards Framework 2015 (in force January 2017)

6.1.4 The governing body takes steps to develop and maintain an institutional environment in which

freedom of intellectual inquiry is upheld and protected, students and staff are treated equitably, the

wellbeing of students and staff is fostered, informed decision making by students is supported and

students have opportunities to participate in the deliberative and decision-making processes of

the higher education provider.

6.3.3 Students have opportunities to participate in academic governance.

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2.5 What’s in it for the students?

There is evidence that engaging students as partners contributes to student retention and

success through building a sense of belonging and empowerment. It can play a central role

in assisting students to develop essential skills for employability, work creation and

citizenship, including critical thinking, innovation and leadership.

2.6 The need for flexibility

A key requirement for developing a framework for student partnership in decision making is

recognising the need for flexibility.

The length of stay at an institution for students can vary between weeks and years and the

formal contact between the institution and the student may be by distance, infrequent face

to face sessions (for workplace apprentices), part time through to full time class based

tuition and research based courses. Even very short-term students enrolled to gain a

needed diploma or broaden their skill base may be experienced participants in higher

education. It is also important to recognise that the line between staff and students is

often blurred as staff may enrol as students to gain further skills and qualifications and

students may be employed by institutions in diverse roles. The particular perspectives

provided by students in these different institution/student models are all valuable.

Clearly a one size fits all approach won’t work. Nonetheless student partnership remains

relevant irrespective of the way in which students engage in learning. Limiting a student’s

opportunity to have a say regarding his or her higher or further education experience to an

end of experience feedback survey is missing a valuable opportunity for enhancement, for

both students and the institution. Students have a right to participate in shaping their

experience and that of future students, and they have much to offer.

The following questions may be useful in building a picture of the features of specific institutions

that need to be considered in implementing student partnership:

Who are the members of the institution?

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What are their roles?

How are they engaged in those roles?

How long do they remain engaged with the institution?

Do they engage in their role on campus, on multiple campuses or elsewhere?

What issues impact how different members engage with the institution?

3. Reviewing student engagement

All institutions are engaging their students in decision making processes, but there are many

questions around where and how students are engaged that need to be addressed if

institutions and their student cohorts aspire to partnership.

Varnham, S, Olliffe, B, Waite, K and Cahill, A (2017) Understanding student engagement in

university decision making and governance 2015 and 2016 – Project Survey Findings

examines the current landscape for student engagement in Australian institutions. The

following points are of note.

Institutions may not have an overview of where their students are involved in decision

making. Some institutional websites were found to be difficult to navigate for information

about opportunities for engagement. We encountered inconsistencies between survey

responses and anecdotal evidence of engagement which was supported by subsequent

follow up with the institution. It is clear that lots of people within institutions are doing good

things but the message isn’t permeating as thoroughly as it could.

A good starting point on the road to effective and sustainable partnership for institutions is

to examine where and how they are engaging students through an audit or review process.

All members could be asked where and how they believe students are engaged in

institutional decision-making- whether academic or otherwise. That input could then be

compared with documentary evidence in policies, websites and statutory instruments.

Parameters to be considered could include the number of students engaged, how they are

recruited, the duration of their engagement, how they are expected to interface with other

institutional members in the process, and how successful that engagement is. Useful

measures of success could be whether students turn up and whether they actively

participate and follow through on assigned tasks (if there are any).

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Surveys may be a good start, but they often have poor response rates. It would be valuable

to delve deeper and it is thought that the comprehensive feedback gained would justify the

relatively small, time commitment. Opportunities such as student flash pizza sessions (to

borrow from our friends in Adelaide) provide a good way to gather evidence. Faculty

brainstorming sessions during faculty meetings are another.

Armed with this information institutions can start to map how they are interacting with

their students and learn where there are gaps. Forming a picture of styles of engagement

and where attempts at engagement are not working could open channels for a dialogue

around how things can be done better. It would create opportunities to consider how

student engagement is communicated and again gaps can be identified.

Institutions could also benefit from turning the spotlight on innovative and effective

practices occurring in their midst that may have gone largely unnoticed.

The opportunities for improvement, removing ineffective and time-wasting processes and

replacing them with more effective options, learning from one another and above all

enhancing the student experience could make the investment in this process well

worthwhile.

The process of reviewing student engagement should be carried out as a partnership

between all members, ensuring that it is robust and respected.

3.1 Suggested review tools

Whether via means of surveys, questionnaires, working parties, or other tools, the

fundamental questions that could be asked across an institution are:

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1. Where are students involved in decision-making?

2. How many students are involved in each decision-making activity?

3. How do students become involved in each role?

4. For how long do they hold each role?

5. How are they prepared for each role?

6. How are they supported in each role?

7. What is expected of them in each role?

8. How effective are students as participants in each decision-making activity?

9. What factors affect their performance in each role?

10. How are outcomes from participation communicated to the students involved ie

how do they see that their voice made a difference to the decision, and if not,

why?

11. What opportunity is there for knowledge and experience sharing between

outgoing and incoming student representatives in each role?

4. Creating a student partnership agreement

We believe that Student Partnership Agreements will be a useful tool for

institutions and students’ associations alike. They are a practical way in which

to talk to the student body as a whole not only about what enhancement

activity is taking place, but also about how they can get involved in it. This is

an important step in helping students to help shape the quality of their

education.

[Eve Lewis Director sparqs]

4.1 Sparqs documents Guides to developing Student Partnership Agreements have been published by sparqs.

Although these documents are written from a Scottish context they contain many useful

ideas and templates that can be used in creating agreements within Australian institutions.

There is at least one Australian university that has utilised the sparqs approach and their

story is reproduced below from the initiative sharing session at the 2017 symposium for

Sally Varnham’s National Senior Teaching Fellowship.

Guidance on the development and implementation of a Student Partnership Agreement in universities

Guidance for the development and implementation of a Student Partnership Agreement in colleges

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4.2 An example of the creation of an institutional Student

Partnership Agreement shared at the Fellowship Symposium

Initiative Student Partnership Agreement

Institution Australian National University

Contact James Connolly President ANUSA: sa.president@anu.edu.au

On August 1, the ANU Academic Board endorsed a Student Partnership Agreement

developed between the student Presidents and the Pro Vice-Chancellor (University

Experience), Richard Baker. In addition to the Academic Board endorsing the Agreement, it

was recommended that the Vice Chancellor support the broad promotion of the Agreement

and for the ANU to advertise it publicly.

At the commencement of my term as President I flagged with the Chair of Academic Board

my desire to see the Academic Board consider engaging in a Student Partnership Agreement,

prompted by my interest in the work of SPARQS (Student Partnerships in Quality Scotland).

At the second meeting of Academic Board for 2017, the Postgraduate President and I spoke

to the topic along with Sally Varnham. We implored the ANU to engage in a Student

Partnership Agreement that was accompanied by meaningful actions that amplified the

student voice. We identified increased student membership of Academic Board and Course

Representative Reform as two areas where this could be accomplished. Academic Board

resolved to establish a Student Engagement Working Group, tasked with developing a

Student Partnership Agreement and a supporting list of engagement initiatives. This was

presented and endorsed by Academic Board on August 1.

The agreement includes a set of principles embodying student partnership at the ANU to

demonstrate the Academic Board’s commitment to empowering students to act as partners

in Academic Governance. The Student Partnership Agreement (Appendix A) was drafted in

consultation with the student body, the two student Associations and the University. It was

developed with reference to SPARQS templates, which have been used successfully in

universities such as the University of Dundee and the University of Stirling.

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The Student Partnership Agreement consist of two components. Part A outlines the

Academic Board’s commitment to working with students as partners to improve the

university experience. It provides a non-exhaustive list of means by which students can

provide feedback and advocacy. The Student Partnership Agreement must be supported by

initiatives that will enhance student engagement, which are outlined in Part B. The

agreement is to be signed by the Chair, Academic Board and student representatives.

The Chair, Academic Board, Pro Vice-Chancellor (University Experience) and Student

Representatives will meet annually to review the Student Partnership Agreement and

initiatives. These projects will be informed by consultation with the wider University,

including the student body. The proposed group will review the effectiveness of the

agreement in operation and propose appropriate additions to the Partnership Themes and

Associated Projects.

5. Student Academic Representation

Opportunity for students to participate in decision making processes from early in their

tertiary education career is valuable for both students and their institutions. A good way to

encourage this is to provide for student academic representation beginning at course, year

or subject level (as appropriate to the course of study students are engaged in). The

students may then build the capability, experience and confidence to progress through to

faculty and university committees and senior governance roles.

The advantage of this approach is that it provides opportunity for many students to

participate in a capacity closely matched with their level of experience. It enables them to

develop skills in representing fellow students. They gain experience in raising issues with

institutional personnel and understanding how institutions work. They can work out if they

like representative roles. If they do, the next level might be to engage in a faculty board or

discipline society or committee. From there, students may if they wish, put themselves

forward to progress to increasingly more senior roles. However, some may be happy to

continue from year to year working on representing their course, contributing their

increasing experience and sharing it with new representatives.

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Student representatives should not be perceived as representing certain groups. Student

cohorts are heterogeneous and for many issues different groups within the student body

may well hold different views.

The role of student representatives is to represent their fellow students to the extent of the

impact the issue under consideration is likely to have on the student community as a whole.

This should include the particular impact the issue may have on specific groups.

A key principal of authentic student partnership in decision making is ensuring that every

student has opportunity to present their views on issues that affect them. There will be

situations where students are provided with that opportunity but clearly if every student

were to participate in every decision, decision making would grind to a halt. The role of the

representative is to gather opinion so that they can fairly stand in the stead of all students in

decision making processes.

Decisions have to be made in circumstances where there may be a range of conflicting views

as to the best course of action. Reaching a decision requires a careful evaluation of as many

views as possible and the consequences of pursuing a particular course of action over

another. Student representatives are charged with the responsibility of ensuring that they

understand the various perspectives of the student body as a whole. The well-prepared

student representative is able to articulate specific concerns so that they can be taken into

consideration into the decision- making process.

The critical factor of course is to ensure that decisions do not discriminate unfairly against

one or more, member groups and it is in this context that capturing pertinent views is

essential. Representation may involve a political element, but it is not about factional

politics.

Being an effective and professional student representative is not easy. A key challenge is to

ensure that student representatives are well trained, supported and equipped to gather the

input they need from fellow students and to decide on a rational view to take. The training

function could well be undertaken by student leaders and their institutions working

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together, thus both acting in partnership and progressing a partnership culture. Experience

abroad has shown this to be the case.

5.1 Two examples of student academic representative processes

shared at the Fellowship symposium.

5.1.1 Example 1

Initiative Student Partnership Through A Representative in Every Class

Institution NZUSA & VUWSA

Contact Alistair Shaw Executive Director New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations: alistair.shaw@students.org.nz

All New Zealand universities, and some polytechnics, operate a system of course

representation which involves having a representative in every class.

The main roles of these “class reps” is to (1) be reflective of their own experience as a

learner, and (2) to gather views from their peers regarding various aspects of their course,

and to communicate these to appropriate members of staff – being those who can make a

difference with the information. This can be positive feedback on aspects which work well

(and thus might be shared as good practice, and maintained) as well as concerns about

issues which negatively affect the student experience.

This feedback is constant, low level, and any changes resulting from the feedback are

reported back to the class acknowledging that it has come about because of the student

voice system. These class representatives are separate from and not involved in the

grievance system, other than to refer students to it.

In addition, these class reps will also be invited to comment on, and provide input to,

proposed changes to procedures or structures, in reaction to student surveys, external

examiners reports, or teaching programme reviews, for example.

They also report back to their student peers the main points of discussions that took place at

staff-student liaison and other meetings, and they share information about any action that is

decided as result of the discussion. Minutes of any staff-student liaison meetings are made

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available to students online. The overall aim is to improve the learning experience for current

as well as for future students.

All representatives are trained, usually by the students’ association, although occasionally

this is done by a staff member employed by the institution or an external trainer. This

training involves helping them to understand more about the student learning experience,

recognising their own expertise as a learner, encouraging them to be reflective, explaining

where they fit within the student voice system, and the concept of partnership in our

approach to enhancing the student learning experience. They are also helped with

information so they can point students who might come to them with questions which are

not theirs to solve.

5.1.2 Example 2

Initiative Academic Student Representative Program

Institution University of South Australia

Contact Claire Colebeck Project Officer, Student Engagement: Claire.Colebeck@unisa.edu.au

The Academic Student Representative (ASR) Program has been designed to provide a

framework for positive interaction between students and staff within the Division of

Education, Arts and Social Sciences at the University of South Australia. An Academic

Student Representative’s main objective is to represent and communicate the views of fellow

students in their respective year level in each Program. The aim of the program is to assist in

improving the quality and experience of learning and the teaching within the Division,

through informed communication between students and Program Directors. Student

Representatives are encouraged to suggest solutions and improvements to help close

negative feedback loops and identify gaps in the student experience, both academically and

socially.

An ASR is responsible for collecting student views, suggestions and opinions and represent

these through informed communication with their Program Director about their peers’

university experiences, both academic and extra-curricular, in order to:

• Suggest solutions and improvements to help close negative feedback loops;

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• Suggest ideas for new initiatives and activities;

• Provide valuable student-focused feedback to their School on a range of learning and

teaching issues.

THE ROLE OF AN ASR

• To collect the views of students on matters relating to their learning experience.

• To attend meetings with the Program Director and other division and/or school

meetings to communicate the views of fellow students to academic and professional

staff.

• To keep the University of South Australia Student Association (USASA) informed of

issues by sending copies of minutes of any meetings you have been involved in as well

as keeping an open communication channel to filter all relevant feedback, issues and

suggestions.

• To refer students with personal problems to the relevant support services such as the

USASA Advocacy Advisors or Counselling Service, etc.

• To close the feedback loop between the Program Directors and students.

Although the role of ASRs is primarily focused at the Program level, the role may also

include the following:

• School Level: Attending School Board and other meetings with the Head of School

and Associate Head of School: Teaching and Learning.

• Divisional Level: Attending Divisional Teaching and Learning meetings when issues

that arise at School level, may need to be discussed further.

• Non-Academic Student Engagement: Meeting bi-monthly with Campus USASA

Representatives and the EASS Student Engagement Officer to discuss ideas for club

and student engagement activities.

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6. Training and supporting student representatives

Training and support is an essential ingredient to enable effective student representation.

To be able to act in a truly representative capacity in partnership with an institution requires

an understanding of whose interests you are representing as well as a knowledge of the

institution and usually meetings processes and procedures. It is a daunting task for students

with no prior experience and very little in the way of orientation to make a valuable

contribution to institutional boards or committees. They may be required to assimilate vast

briefing papers, to understand what is important and what is not, and to recognise when

and how they should or could contribute. To facilitate students taking on these roles

support and training needs to be provided.

Training and support for student representatives may be undertaken as a partnership

function between student associations or SRCs and the institution helping to build a culture

of members of the institution working together.

At the course representative level training doesn’t need to be particularly elaborate. As

student representatives take on more senior roles their training and support needs may

increase but at the same time these more experienced representatives can play an

important role in mentoring newer representatives. At the most senior levels, some

institutions are already providing opportunity for student representatives to take part in

more advanced training such as company director training and financial briefings. This level

of investment in student representation is an important indicator that an institution is

taking its engagement with students in decision making seriously. It is also an investment

22

that can pay dividends though building expertise within the student body that can be

shared.

6.1 Example of a pilot program hosted at UTS Faculty of Law

Initiative Staff Student Consultation Committee Pilot Project

Institution University of Technology Sydney, Faculty of Law

Contact Sally Varnham: Sally.Varnham@uts.edu.au; Bronwyn Olliffe: bronwyn.olliffe@uts.edu.au

A pilot project was initiated in the law faculty at UTS, working with students and staff

engaged in the undergraduate LLB program to determine whether this type of engagement

with students would be beneficial to staff, students and the program.

Students volunteered to participate and were recruited from each year in the program. The

program was advertised through a student bulletin. Student representatives received

training before the committee met and were provided with ongoing support. Training was

provided during a two-hour session that was run twice to suit student timetables. At the end

of training they had the opportunity to opt out if they decided they did not want to

participate. Two trainers worked together using a bank of slides and other tools to lead

students through the responsibilities of representatives and how they could go about

carrying them out.

Staff participating in the committee were recruited by role and were briefed about the

program through a staff seminar. Better briefing and training of academics prior to the first

SSCC meeting may have increased positive responses from some academic members.

The pilot project was well received by the students involved. They liked the opportunity to

work with staff, raise student concerns and have those concerns addressed in an open,

collaborative discussion. Students benefitted from gaining a better understanding of

university processes and recognising that some decision-making is centralised and therefore

not controlled by the faculty. Understanding the reasoning behind policies and processes

was beneficial. Students appreciated the changes that were implemented as a result of their

comments and advice that matters that could not be actioned immediately would be

23

pursued. Students also appreciated this opportunity to enhance communication and

transparency while engaging with students from other years of their course.

It was beneficial for the faculty to meet students in a collaborative environment and hear

from a ‘new group’ of students representing their peers rather than depend on those

students who were active in other student bodies.

6.2 Training tools

Tools used in training the students in this pilot program included the following slides,

questions and handbook. The slides and questions were based on resources available on

the sparqs website. The handbook was based on one produced by Victoria University

Wellington Students Association.

6.2.1 Slides

Slide 1

Course Representative Training

These slides can be adapted to different training situations

24

Slide 2

Welcome and introduction

•Trainers

Introduce the trainers and provide any appropriate contact details.

Slide 3

Your course

What course are you studying? Year?

What do you hope to get out of your chosen course?

What do you like most about it?

What would you like to change about it?

Have participants introduce themselves to each other and to the trainers.

Slide 4

Why are Student Reps important?

Because

You

are the

expert!

Student views voiced

Dialogue with staff

Improved student

experience through

partnership approach

Student Reps are valuable, essential and appreciated

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Slide 5

Key purpose of a Course Representative

• To continuously improve the student learning experience in partnership with the institution by helping create solutions to problems.

• To represent fellow students’ views and opinions on all matters relating to learning and teaching.

• To provide both positive and negative feedback to staff and to share ideas.

• To act as a communication channel between staff and students.

Reps need to be aware of what is included within the scope of their role

Slide 6

Key Responsibilities of a Representative

Introduce yourself to your fellow students

Introduce

Gather student opinionGather

Provide feedback to staff and studentsProvide

Present student views at meetingsPresent

Attend meetingsAttend

Help to develop solutions to issuesHelp

Slide 7

What you do and don’t do

Academic Issues

• Exam timetabling• Access to resources• Lecture quality• Assessment feedback• Late submission penalties• Computer resources

Non-Academic Issues

• Housing• Finding work• Money• Visas• Parking• Fees• Discrimination• Health

!

Discuss the difference between Academic and non-academic issues.

26

Slide 8

Key skills and attributes of an effective Rep

Commitment

Representative

Approachable and contactable

Diplomatic, impartial and supportive

A strong communicator

Knowledgeable on students concerns and priorities

Organised

Proactive

Time and priority management

Key skills and attributes of an effective rep.

Slide 9 Capturing the student voice

As a Course Rep you should be the first person that students raise their academic feedback, issues or concerns with.

It is then your responsibility to take the appropriate actions:

➢ Listen carefully to the student‘s feedback

➢ Collate the student feedback and formulate the evidence

➢ Decide whether you should raise the feedback promptly direct to a staff member or take the feedback to your next Student-Staff Consultative Committee meeting.

Discuss the importance of effective communication

Slide

10 Communication methods

Lecture Shout OutsCourse Facebook group

Virtual Learning Environment

Conduct a surveyNote pad or post it

notes

Notice board spaceGroup email

Student poll Ballot box

Social Media

Different methods may work better for particular groups

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Slide

11

what engagement means…

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hli2_aGMUlQ

This is a short video that shows reps in the UK talking about their experience

Slide

12

Providing effective feedback

to staff

• Accurate - be specific, and provide evidence for what you are saying.

• Balanced – Present negative and positive feedback

• Constructive – Be solution focused.

• Depersonalised – Do not mention staff members by name.

• Feedback should be:

• widely expressed, deeply felt and achievable.

Slide

13

Before a meeting

• Know where to go and when

• Find out what your classmates think about their learning experience

• Add to agenda

• Read last meeting minutes, agenda and papers

• Speak to other course reps

For some reps this may be their first experience of formal meeting procedure

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Slide

14

During a meeting

• Be on time

• Take notes

• Sit where the chair can see you and raise your hand to indicate you want to contribute

• Remember how to give effective feedback

• Ask questions if you do not understand anything

• Support other course reps in the meeting

Meeting

etiquette

Slide

15

After a meeting

• Feedback

• Check the minutes

• Follow through on agreed actions

• Follow up any areas of concern

• Reflect on your experience

Slide

16 Support for you

Your course representative mentor

Introduce the main support staff/team.

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Slide

17

Support for you

❖ Student Course Representative handbook- provides information about most aspects of the student

representative role

Discuss any other support mechanisms in place

Slide

18

Support Services

As a Course Rep you are the person that students raise their academic feedback, issues or concerns with.

Course reps do not deal with;

❖ Students’ personal issues (welfare, health, housing, employment)

❖ Disputes between individual students and staff

❖ Financial or funding queries

❖ Individual complaints, appeals or discipline matters

If a student has these kinds of issues, recommend that they talk to a member of staff, or signpost them to an appropriate service

Slide

19

Support Services

❖ Academic support

❖ Health and wellbeing

❖ Financial help

❖ Accommodation

❖ When things go wrong

❖ Student Centre

Introduce available services and signpost how they can access these services

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Slide

20

Student Association

• Contact Details

Slide

21

Policies and Procedures-some examples

Assessment of Coursework Subjects

Student Charter

Handling Student Complaints

Student Ombuds Office-office of last resort

Slide

22 How do you benefit from the role?

Change maker

Networking

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Slide

23 Thank you!

Consider how to wrap up the training session

6.2.2 Questions

The following questions were used to test student understanding of the issues covered during the

training session. They were discussed as a group. A selection of the questions was used at each

session.

1. A classmate comes to you to talk about their course. They say they’re having a hard time, and

that they’re considering dropping out. When you ask why they say they don’t know if this level

of study is right for them – they’re demotivated and are thinking of leaving and getting a job.

What would you do in this situation?

2. A classmate approaches you, frustrated at their recent experience with the careers service.

They feel they’ve been let down, that the advice wasn’t useful, and that people on other

courses get better advice. They want you to help them complain to the careers service.

3. Several classmates approach you after an exam, which they say included questions which

weren’t covered on the course. One brings a copy of the exam paper. They want to do

something about this – their exam makes a big difference to their final grade. What would you

do?

4. A couple of students come to speak to you. They’re volunteering on their own initiative – it

wasn’t set up by any student organisation – and they’ve heard that their efforts can be

recognised in a transcript of their achievements. They were pleased, it means they can

32

demonstrate their volunteering more easily to employers and have unpaid work recognised.

The problem is the transcript only recognises volunteering done through student support

services, so they’re not eligible. They’d like this changed, and they’d like you to help.

5. A student comes to you, excited after reading a book related to their course. Trouble is, it isn’t

on the course. It’s not even mentioned on the syllabus – there’s literally no notice paid to this

theory, but they’re convinced it’s an exciting new approach for the subject. They’ve approached

you because they’re less comfortable speaking with lecturers, but heard you’re more

approachable. What do you do?

6. Students come to speak with you. You’ve been expecting it – teaching staff are striking and

classes have been suspended for a week. Students are angry that they’re spending money for

their course and lectures are off, they’ve heard nothing about whether classes will be

rescheduled. They want to know what can be done.

7. A student approaches you, anxious about feedback. They handed in an essay and haven’t heard

anything back. That was 3 months ago, exams are in a week. They don’t feel confident enough

to approach teaching staff, so they’ve come to you.

8. Someone in your class asks you to stay behind for a minute after the class has finished. Most of

the class stay back too, they’re angry at the lack of teaching recently. There’s a shortage of

teaching staff, and some classes just aren’t being covered. People understand that there are

people with exams pressing and qualifications which need to be taken right now, but their

learning’s suffering. What can you do?

9. A student approaches you with their friend. The friend explains that they’re an advocate, and

are here to help the student represent themselves. The student says that they have a mental

health issue which means they’re sometimes unable to make classes. While this is allowed for,

and the time off isn’t a problem, they’re missing out on lectures sometimes. They’d like to put a

Dictaphone at the front of the class so that they’re able to hear the lecture even if they can’t

make it because of an appointment or illness. Their advocate explains that they’ve been told

that Dictaphones aren’t allowed in classes. At this point the student says they know you’re the

class rep and approached you after hearing that you’ve helped other students in the past.

10. Students come to you to talk about their anger. They’ve just seen class time hijacked for a

survey for some kind of review the institution’s expected to go through. They understand that

there must be standards to meet, etc, but it’s getting excessive – there’s a never-ending list of

surveys, questionnaires and unpaid focus groups to attend. It seems like they’re just being

asked to make the institution look good, but they’re angry that it’s never explained to them –

they feel like they’re expected to cheer-lead but their opinions don’t matter.

33

11. Students approach you about the out of date software on their PCs. There is up to date

software on the class PCs but in the common study areas it is out of date. As the course requires

substantial independent study in these areas they are unable to complete their work

satisfactorily.

12. Students complain that their assessments in their department are all being scheduled for the

same week, with some saying they have all their essays due on the same day.

13. Students come to you to raise a problem. They have been having lectures in a room that is far

too small for their group. The lecturer is aware of the problem, and has been sympathetic, but

has said there is nothing that can be done as the problem is one of scheduling.

6.2.3 Handbook

Student representatives were provided with a copy of this handbook to keep as a resource.

Student Representative

Handbook

34

Acknowledgement

This guide for students has been prepared after considering training materials and

commentary on student representation developed by Student Partnership in Quality

Scotland (sparqs), Quality Assurance Agency UK, University of Bath, Cardiff University, and

Victoria University, Wellington.

Purpose of Course Representatives

Student course representatives have been used in universities in the United Kingdom and

elsewhere to continuously improve the student learning experience. Course

representatives represent their fellow classmates’ views and opinions on all matters relating

to learning and teaching. They provide feedback to staff and act as a communication

channel between staff and students. Importantly use of course representatives allows

concerns to be addressed where possible during the course.

What do we mean by student learning experience?

There are many factors that make up how students experience the courses they take at

university. These factors in combination make up the student learning experience. The

various inputs include curriculum, learning resources, learning and teaching processes,

assessment and feedback processes, student progression and achievement, guidance and

support and quality enhancement and assurance processes.

This means that course representatives need to recognise that any of these factors might give rise to

issues that a course representative may need to be ready to discuss with staff.

Benefits

Although there is a time commitment involved in being a course representative, the role

provides an opportunity to learn new skills. Being a course representative is something you can

include on your CV. It provides networking opportunities and useful background for future

representational roles as well as being good experience for future employment.

As a course representative you have an opportunity to help shape the course you are representing

students on and to gain a greater understanding of teaching and learning activities.

35

How are course representatives recruited?

Different approaches to recruiting have been adopted including election, nomination (by

staff or students) and volunteering. We suggest that classes briefly discuss how they would

like to appoint their representative. If you would like to be a course representative it is

important that you understand what the role involves and have the necessary skills and

attributes to be able to carry out the role.

Effective course representation

Above all a course representative needs to show up and actively participate in the course

whether attendance is compulsory or not. You need to be accessible to your fellow

students. This does not mean being available at all hours of the day and night and it does

not mean devoting long hours to your role. Your role is as a point of contact and to liaise

between staff and students.

You are there to represent all students in the course so be aware that different groups of

students may have valid concerns that are not necessarily shared by all students. You need

to be able to identify who is being affected by an issue and why.

The role of course representative may involve giving both positive and negative feedback to

staff and students. Diplomacy is very important. Being a representative may involve having

to present views that you do not personally share. It may be necessary to negotiate

solutions on particular issues and it may be necessary to conduct some research to support

or explain particular positions students want to present to staff. Good report writing skills

may also be needed for documenting particular issues and responses.

Good representation requires good communication skills. Effective course representatives

are good at listening, networking, relationship building and reflection. Course

representatives also need to have good presentation and organisation skills. They need to

be good at time management and prioritisation because there will be some time

commitment involved in being a course representative.

36

Course representatives need to familiarise themselves with meeting procedure and to be

prepared to participate in scheduled meetings with honesty, integrity, fairness and respect.

Confidentiality needs to be respected where sensitive information is shared.

These are all skills that most of us will need to develop in our working life and other

activities so experience gained as a course representative may be useful elsewhere including

on your curriculum vitae.

What do course representatives do?

Introduce yourself

After being appointed as a course representative make sure the students in your course know who

you are and how to contact you. In large classes this is likely to be more important than in smaller

cohorts where students may already know one another. Your course coordinator should be able to

assist particularly if there are a number of classes in each course through sending out class emails or

announcements on virtual learning sites.

It may be desirable to have more than one representative for very large courses and courses run

across multiple classes.

Gather student opinion

Course representatives need to consider how best to gather input from fellow students. It is

important not to disrupt regular class operation nor access to the room for classes using the room

before or after your class. Respect for staff is also very important so some issues may be best

discussed outside the class environment. Emails and social media may be useful. Face to face chats

or telephone discussions may also be useful. Remember that the scope of issues you are dealing

with is student opinion and concerns about issues related to the course content, delivery and

assessment. Students raising issues outside this scope should be referred to student services for

assistance.

Provide feedback to staff and students

A key task for course representatives is to present student views at meetings with staff.

Therefore, it is essential that course representatives attend these meetings prepared by

having gathered feedback from fellow students and having considered how any problems

you raise might be resolved.

37

In providing feedback it is important to make sure that the information you provide is

accurate, balanced, constructive and depersonalised. You need to be specific and where

necessary provide evidence to support what you are saying. But be careful not to identify

particular issues with particular students. This is important to your credibility as a course

representative. Avoid sweeping generalisations or emotional language.

Remember that it is important for staff to hear what is working well as well as what needs

improvement. Positive suggestions for course enhancement from the students’

perspectives are key to the process.

When delivering criticism direct it to the issues that are a problem rather than the

individuals that may be associated with them. This often makes those receiving criticism

more receptive and is a professional and courteous way to raise issues. If it becomes

necessary to deliver criticism that is personal, consider whether the person concerned

should be advised outside a meeting forum or whether you may need to discuss the issue

with another member of staff.

Meetings

We recommend that course representatives and staff meet at monthly intervals. Meetings

should not need to take more than an hour. Urgent matters may need to be dealt with

outside scheduled meetings.

Make sure you know where and when meetings are going to take place. Make sure you

have gathered feedback and prepared for the meeting by having read any previous minutes

and any circulated papers and having done anything you were asked to do for the meeting.

Think about whether there is anything you want to put on the agenda and that you know

how to do that. If there are other representatives for your course you may want to discuss

the issues that are arising before the meeting.

Always be on time, if you are going to be late let the Chair/Secretary know before the

meeting. Be equipped to take notes. Turn off your mobile phone in the meeting. Follow

agreed protocol regarding speaking in the meeting. A small meeting may be less formal

than a large meeting. Ask questions if you do not understand anything. Support other course

representatives present in the meeting. Report back to your classmates.

38

Don’t wait for a meeting for urgent matters

if an issue arises that needs to be dealt with quickly or before a particular date approach the

relevant staff to make a time to discuss it or present the issue in an email

Support

If you find there are issues that you feel you are not equipped to handle please feel free to

contact xxx.

Remember your role is to address concerns of the class not to advocate on behalf of

individual students. Students with individual concerns should be encouraged to seek

assistance through appropriate channels.

Remember the role of course representative is a voluntary one and while a great

opportunity you must look after yourself at the same time. Make sure that your activities as

a course representative do not interfere with your studies. If you are experiencing any

stress or concerns associated with your role, please contact xxx.

Recognise limitations

It is important to recognise that while some issues might be able to be addressed quickly

and easily others will not. Constraints that may prevent quick changes include limitations

on resources the staff have access to and any policy and procedural constraints that staff

will need to comply with in bringing about change. It may also be that the thing students

are asking for cannot be done. If that is the case it is important you understand and are able

to communicate the barriers to your fellow students.

----------- end of handbook -----------

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7. Student leadership training In addition to student academic representative training some institutions are embracing the

need to provide more general leadership training for student representatives.

The following example is a leadership program that has been implemented at Charles Sturt

University to assist with training and supporting student leaders.

Initiative STRIVE – A CSU Student Leadership Program Pilot

Institution Charles Sturt University

Contact Kerry Silverson Student Leadership, Office for Students: ksilverson@csu.edu.au

STRIVE – A CSU Student Leadership Program is a pilot enterprise level program that was

launched in 2017 with full scalability of the program established for 2018. STRIVE provided:

● Students with the opportunity to learn about current trends and topics in leadership

● Students with the opportunity to complete leadership modules and workshops on

topics that are linked to leadership capabilities

● Students with the opportunity to get recognition for their existing leadership

positions within CSU and the training that such roles provide.

● Students with the opportunity to further develop their leadership skills through

practical activities and online modules

● A coordinated approach to recognise the leadership already being demonstrated by

many of our students in our communities both within and external (local, national

and international) to CSU and

● Opportunities for emerging leaders.

The CSU Student Leadership Program works across all areas of the student experience,

establishing a sense of agency in which the informal “soft skills” obtained by students can be

formally recognised as valuable employability skills.

The Student Leadership Program will help student Leaders ask and answer;

• How do the experiences and events in life impact my leadership identity?

• What influences impact the kind of leader I become?

• How can I develop a foundation of strong leadership capabilities?

40

STRIVE – A CSU Leadership Program has been developed as a process for leadership

capability development through four strands that articulate and cumulatively build capacity

for completion. The strands of STRIVE are consistently connected to leadership development

and follow the social change model; Lead Self, Lead Others and Lead Community. The initial

strand on Self-Awareness was added as leaders need to understand themselves before they

are able to effectively lead others.

Each of the four strands contains a collection of modules that connect to the strand theme.

STRIVE was designed to be completed through ten online modules and the practical

application of a leadership role. It is estimated that it will involve 30 hours to complete the

ten online modules and 30 hours of practical activities undertaken in a leadership role.

Upon successful completion students will receive a CSU Certificate in Leadership and

recognition on AHEGS.

Student Leadership Conference

In November 2015, the Office for Students in conjunction with the Student Representative

body held the inaugural Student Leadership Conference at Wagga, NSW on November 5th

and 6th. The Office for Students was successful in being granted further SSAF funding for a

second conference for 2016.

The 2016 Student Leadership Conference was hosted in Bathurst, 31st October to 2nd of

November 2016. All events and presentations were hosted on the campus at the Centre for

Professional Development, engineering pitch zone and Rafters. Students were

accommodated in residences on campus as well.

The Student Leadership Conference aims to build a network of student leaders, assist with

the development of formalised, enterprise wide student leadership skills development and

the opportunity for students to network.

The 2017 Student Leadership Conference is currently in the planning stage with the goal of

60 student leaders from all campuses to attend and develop strong networks and

capabilities necessary for leadership now and in the future.

41

8. Communication with Students

Communicating with students, gathering feedback and closing feedback loops are

recognised as challenging activities in spite of the diverse communication tools we have at

our disposal. The challenge arises because students are often bombarded with information

and because the communication tools institutions might think are useful may not be the

ones preferred by students. This is compounded by the diverse ways in which students

undertake their studies and by wide ranging student cohorts - both meaning that particular

groups of students are harder to engage with than others.

Institutions are addressing these challenges by utilising a range of strategies and tools to

connect with their students.

Polling tools allow students to participate in identifying issues, concerns and opportunities.

There are great examples around, such as ‘what’ boards, flash pizza, UniJam (University of

South Australia https://unijam.unisa.edu.au/) and online digital democracy platforms.

At the University of Adelaide, a plexiglass board was provided so that students could record

their responses to particular questions. The board was regularly photographed to create a

record of student responses and then cleaned to allow for further responses or for a new

question to be posted.

Again, at the University of Adelaide, impromptu student gathering known as flash pizza have

been used to gather student input on particular issues. The events are advertised shortly

before they occur, pizza is provided, and students are asked to discuss an issue. Their input

is recorded. Flash pizza is a useful way of rapidly gathering diverse views on an issue.

UniJam is an event that has been run twice at the University of South Australia and

organised by their student association. It is an online event that allows large numbers of

participants to discuss a range of issues in real time. Anyone with access to a computer and

the internet can participate. A specialised collaborative platform is required to host the

event.

42

Digital democracy platforms provide a similar opportunity to UniJam but operate in an

ongoing manner and allow virtual engagement with students to gather input on issues as

they arise. An example of this type of platform is VocalEyes (https://www.vocaleyes.org/).

Project based partnership activities offer another opportunity that can be adapted to

different learning environments. Project based activities have the benefit of being limited in

time and potentially engaging different students from other activities.

Example of such activities in different contexts are the very successful UNSW Heroes

program, and Students as Change Agents in Learning and Teaching at Murdoch University,

both shared at our 1 September Symposium:

https://www.uts.edu.au/sites/default/files/article/downloads/symposium%20initiaitves%20

session.pdf.

9. Resources

The following resources are good examples of the types of material already available to

assist with developing student partnership.

studentvoiceaustralia.com (formerly www.studentvoice.uts.edu.au)

sparqs website https://www.sparqs.ac.uk/

The Student Engagement Partnership www.tsep.org.uk/

Irish Survey of Student Engagement http://studentsurvey.ie)/

Ako Aotearoa: The National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence and New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations (2013) Student Voice in Tertiary Education Settings: Quality Systems in Practice at https://akoaotearoa.ac.nz/download/ng/file/group-8706/student-voice-in-tertiary-education-settings---full-report.pdf

European Students Union (ESU) (2011) No Student Left Out: the do’s and don’ts of student participation in higher education decision-making at https://www.esu-online.org

Healey M & ors (2014) Engagement through partnership: students as partners in higher

education, Higher Education Academy,

https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/enhancement/themes/students-partners

NUS (2012) Student Engagement in Learning and Teaching Quality Management National Union of Students (NUS) Manifesto for Partnership at (http://www.nusconnect.org.uk/resources/a-manifesto-for-partnership

43

The Student Engagement Partnership (TSEP) & GuildHE (2015) Making Student Engagement a Reality- Turning theory into Practice at www.guildhe.ac.uk

The Student Engagement Partnership (TSEP) (2014) The Principles of Student Engagement: The Student Engagement Conversation at http://tsep.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/4-d8f8ea0c4180f64d078700886483e4a08/2014/09/The-Principles-of-Student-Engagement.pdf

Van der Velden G M, Pool A D, Lowe J A, Naidoo R & Pimentel-Botas P C (2013), 'Student Engagement in Learning and Teaching Quality Management - A good practice guide for higher education providers and students' unions'. Commissioned by The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.

Varnham, S, Olliffe, B, Waite, K and Cahill, A (2017a) Student engagement in university

decision-making and governance: Towards a more systemically inclusive student voice: Final

Report 2016

Varnham, S, Olliffe, B, Waite, K and Cahill, A (2017b) Report on International Research Investigations into Student Engagement in Higher Education, 2015

Varnham, S, Olliffe, B, Waite, K and Cahill, A (2017c) Understanding student engagement in university decision making and governance 2015 and 2016 – Good Practice Case Studies Report – Australian examples of student engagement

Varnham, S, Olliffe, B, Waite, K and Cahill, A (2017d) Understanding student engagement in university decision making and governance 2015 and 2016 – project survey findings

Recent reports from abroad:

sparqs, 2017 – Celebrating Achievement https://www.sparqs.ac.uk/upfiles/CELEBRATING%20ACHIEVEMENT%20SPREADS%20WEB.pdf

And sparqs video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOSqOFWH0Iw

Flint, Goddard & Russell/TSEP, 2017 – Architects of their experience: the role, value and impact of student academic representative systems in Higher Education in England: http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/Newsroom/Documents/Quality-Matters-2017/Architects-Of-Their-Experience-Hannah-Goddard.pdf

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10. Appendix A ANU Student partnership agreement

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46

47

48

49

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